Recap: No. 22 Stanford Softball crushes NC State on Friday night
On Friday, No. 22 Stanford softball defeated NC State at home by a final score of 11-4. Zoe Prystajko (13-5) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while Rylee Wyman (6-8) was the losing pitcher for the Wolfpack in a starting role. Taryn Kern hit a solo home run for the Cardinal while Ava Gall had a team-high 3 RBIs, going 2-2 for three RBIs. Stanford improves to 28-12 overall and 13-6 in the ACC while NC State falls to 25-18 overall and 6-9 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: NC State at Stanford-Friday, April 17th
“Ooh, man, it was a great win,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said after the game. “And actually, I think Coach Merchant did a good job. She reminded us all in the huddle because I wasn’t really happy with the way it ended that it’s a top 50 RPI win and we did a lot of things very well. So to come out and get that win Friday night is a big deal.”
This game was one-way traffic for the Cardinal. They scored four runs in the bottom of the 1st inning to go up 4-0:
Kern hit her solo home run in the first at-bat for the Cardinal after which Emily Jones and Kyra Chan hit back-to-back bunt singles. Jade Berry then reached on a fielder’s choice as Jones and Chan both advanced, loading up the bases. Joie Economides would single to shallow left field to bring home both Jones and Chan. Sophia Jin would pinch run for Economides and steal second base. Gall would then hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Berry, advancing Jin to third base. Addyson Sheppard then flied out to end the inning.
Stanford would later make it a 10-0 after scoring six runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Berry hit an RBI single to bring home River Mahler; Gall hit a two-RBI single up the middle to bring home Berry and Economides; Sydney Boulaphinh hit a two-RBI single up the middle to bring home Economides and pinch runner Jordana King, who came in for Gall. Thanks to a wild pitch, Boulaphinh advanced to third base after being on second base. Jones singled to bring home Boulaphinh. Chan then struck out to end the bottom of the 3rd.
“Yeah, we did a couple of things,” Allister said of what went well to get that 10-0 lead. “Obviously, you know, Taryn starting off the game with a leadoff home run. We’ll never be upset about that. That was a good start and then I thought Jones did a good job and Jones and Kyra did a good job of pressuring the short game right after that and taking what they were giving us and then we strung together some hits. Put some pressure on the defense, you know, when you hit the ball in the ground, good things happen and I thought we hit the ball hard on the ground. They made some mistakes and we capitalized on them.”
“Yeah, so especially in that at-bat, first pitch, I got a drop outside and she was really quick out of the glove, kind of throws off her timing a little bit,” Gall said of her two-RBI single. “My biggest emphasis was getting on time and I saw a pitch exactly what I was looking for is just a drop, good height and so I went for it, tried to stay on a plane, and did exactly what I was looking to do.”
Alyssa Houston, who had pitched the first three innings for Stanford would be replaced in the circle to start the 4th inning by Ava Bulanti. Bulanti would get three straight batters out via fly out, fly out, and ground out. Stanford would not score in the bottom of the 4th, keeping it a 10-0 game.
“I’m really confident,” Houston said. “I felt like my team had my back and I just got to pitch free and just play to more of my defense and like we’re just moving and grooving and when I can just move and groove freely, it helps everyone out.”
In the top of the 5th inning, NC State did enough to avoid the game ending early via run rule as they scored four runs to make it a 10-4 game. Maia Townsend hit an RBI single off Bulanti to make it 10-1 before Lily Livingston hit a three-run homer to deep center field to make it 10-4. Those would be the only runs NC State would score in the game.
“Yeah, I think it’s hard for me to have a real answer until I go back and watch the film and see exactly where those pitches are,” Allister said of Bulanti’s rough inning. “My guess is we’ve got up spin pitches that are falling low in the zone and probably not hitting the corner that we need to hit them in, and I think she can execute a little bit better, so I thought the first inning was very good. She’s really good when she’s nailing locations and changing speeds. And we’ll take a peek at it, but my guess is we were balls and then strikes.”
In the bottom of the 6th inning, Stanford would add another run as Gall hit an RBI single to right shallow field with one out to bring home Berry, who scored from second base. That made it an 11-4 lead for the Cardinal. Stanford would not score any more runs the rest of the inning, making it 11-4 going into the 7th inning.
“Yeah, I mean, that was awesome,” Gall said of scoring 11 runs. “We saw a glimpse of it last weekend. We were playing FSU. The bats really came alive and I think our coaches have been doing an amazing job of just really challenging us during the week. And then it really shows on the weekend. I feel like we’re really prepared and it’s so amazing to see everyone up and down the lineup offensively producing.”
In the top of the 7th inning, Zoe Prystajko would shut the door on the Wolfpack. Livingston would pop up to Gall, who did a nice job behind the plate all night. The next two batters would strike out to end the game. 11-4 Stanford won.
“Yeah, it was fantastic,” Allister said of Gall’s catch. “Ava, yeah, great today and Ava, she’s just been on an upward trajectory since the middle of the season when she came back from that thumb and just getting better and better, getting better and better behind the plate. She brings great energy, great competitiveness. She’s awesome.”
“That was awesome,” Gall said of her catch. “It brought back flashbacks of that first week against Oklahoma State. I had one the bunt, too. And those catches are so much fun. I love seeing my teammates get super excited and it’s nice to be able to make those big time plays for my pitchers.”
For Stanford, this went about as well as they could have hoped. They dominated from start to finish, picking up their sixth straight win. The bats were on fire and aside from one inning, the pitching was sound. Just an all-around nice win.
“Yeah, I think we’re starting to play some good ball,” Allister said. “I think we’re starting to play some really good ball. I think you’re starting to see the team that we knew we could be early on, but some people are starting to get some confidence back. We’re starting to score up and down the lineup. I think the emergence of Ava Bulanti in the circle has been good, obviously getting Alyssa back, getting everybody healthy, just really, it’s no different than that. We’re just getting healthy and kind of settling in.”
One thing that really does help Stanford is getting Alyssa Houston back and returning to her true form. Getting that extra pitching depth is helping out as much as the hitting.
“Just like constantly just grow confidence from each and every pitch,” Houston said of the key to getting back into form. “Just like going out there and knowing that we don’t have to be absolute perfect because my teammates got me. I don’t have to strike every person out. Like, get the outs and just be thankful for the outs. So that’s kind of where I’m at right now…Honestly, just like, the coaches trusting me and just trusting my stuff and constantly just working on just myself and just being having that mentality, like, that mentality doesn’t go away when you sit out and you’re recovering.
“Like, I think my mentality ultimately just changed sitting out. Like, I wanted it even more. So like, going out there and just playing is just like, sitting for a while, just makes you want it more and just appreciate all the things a little bit more. So right now, I’m just more in an appreciative role than I think just expecting it. Like, expect nothing. Grateful for everything. So right now, that’s kind of where I’m at. Just grateful to be out there and just pitching.”
“Oh absolutely, we missed her so much,” Gall said of Houston. “It’s incredible to have her back. She throws really hard, has great spin, and it’s nice to have a little bit of variability between her, Elena, Anna, Ava, Zoe. So we really appreciate her.”
Up next for Stanford is game two on Saturday. That will begin at 2:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Well that’s it right there, they haven’t thrown their ace yet,” Allister said looking ahead to Saturday. “So we’ll see. They got a freshman who’s good and we’ll see her tomorrow, so we’re gonna need to show up ready.”
“Keep the momentum going,” Gall said. “We put up 11 runs on a really, really good NC State team. They’re gonna throw us their best pitcher tomorrow. So just keep confident. Know what we’re looking to do and keep the bats rolling.”
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